Also: DEI under attack, China's A.I., deflation in China. 
Good morning.
Former Dow CEO Andrew Liveris wrote in to dispute Vivek Ramaswamy’s notion, which I quoted yesterday, that “we don’t want capitalism and democracy sharing the same bed. We need a clean divorce.” Says Liveris:
“Capitalism and democracy were always in a marriage. They should not be divorced. Who sets the rules? If we don’t see rules in place or the right rules as witnessed by our financial systems melting down in the Great Financial Crisis, or worse still, we allow the fox to watch the hen house in the rule setting process, then we end up with huge unintended consequences.”
Liveris elaborates in his book Leading Through Disruption, which, as I wrote last month, is a vigorous defense of stakeholder capitalism. Looking after the interests of employees, customers, and the communities and world they inhabit, he writes, is not only good business, but a necessity in the modern world.
At Fortune, we agree. That’s why we teamed up with the folks at EVERFI to create the Fortune Impact Initiative, a community of top executives responsible for their company’s efforts to improve their positive impact on society. We’ll be gathering September 12-13 in Atlanta, with corporate leaders including Walmart chief sustainability officer Kathleen McLaughlin, GM chief sustainability officer Kristen Siemen, Cisco chief social impact officer Brian Tippens, Meta chief diversity officer Maxine Williams, Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown and more. I’ll be interviewing former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams at the event. And oh yes, incoming Wheel of Fortune (no relation) host Ryan Seacrest will also be on hand. If you are interested in attending, apply here.
Finally, a note from the CEO summer reading list. I just finished The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which was recommended by Ken Hicks, CEO of Academy Sports. It’s a fascinating and true tale of a guy who decides to deliver beer to a handful of friends fighting in Vietnam and ends up getting caught in Saigon in the middle of the Tet Offensive. The bizarre and delightful buddy story made the 14-hour flight to Abu Dhabi seem half as long.
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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DEI under attack
Fresh off their victory over university admissions in the Supreme Court, conservatives are now targeting diversity initiatives by U.S. companies. The conservative group behind the successful legal challenge to affirmative action is now suing Fearless Fund, a venture capital group that offers grants to Black women founders, alleging racial bias. DEI experts are worried that companies, already wary of diversity initiatives, may soon abandon the idea altogether. The Wall Street Journal
China vs. ChatGPT
Internet companies in China, much like their U.S. peers, are trying to capitalize on the hype sparked by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Baidu’s chatbot Ernie Bot, first released for testing in March, can answer questions and generate charts, and researchers claim the underlying model performs better than OpenAI’s GPT when it comes to operating in Chinese. Yet China’s tech companies must navigate both Beijing’s regulatory scrutiny and Washington’s tough controls on advanced technology sales. Fortune
More bad news in China
China’s consumer price index fell by 0.3% in July, the first drop in two years, the country’s statistics bureau reported Wednesday. It’s another sign of deflation in China’s economy, beset by a property crisis and low consumer confidence. It’s also the second piece of bad news in just over 24 hours: On Tuesday, the country’s customs agency reported a surprising 14.5% year-on-year plunge in exports last month, the steepest drop since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Bloomberg
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Back-to-school spending in the face of inflation Consumers are reassessing their spending and pulling back on nonessentials like tech and apparel, according to Deloitte’s 16th annual back-to-school survey. However, nearly six in 10 parents say they would be willing to splurge for the right reasons. How might this impact retailers? Explore insights here.
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